Oklahoma City grows into a big league city

The impact of a permanent NBA team in Oklahoma City has been profound, Cornett said.

“We’ve reached a new plateau,” he said. “It’s led to a higher quality of life, job creation, and heightened city pride.”

As far as the future is concerned, the mayor doesn’t see the city making any additional big moves for awhile.

“I think it would be presumptuous to assume we can attain a higher level,” Cornett said.

That’s not to say the minor league experience isn’t fun, and Cornett said he thinks the city needs to retain its minor league teams even with the NBA in town because that’s where the city started, and many fans agree.

“I remember going to 89er games; those were fun,” said Beau Bailey, an Oklahoma City sports fan who first moved to Edmond in 1986. “A lot of big names came through there. ... (But) no one ever thought that we’d have (an NBA team) in Oklahoma City.”